Drilling a tank, need help

[kwandrsn]

Ok I currently have a 36 gallon bow front with a esopps 300 overflow and a 10 gallon sump

I am changing over to a 36" 35 gallon acylic tank and a 20 gallon long sump.
I am going to have the tank drilled and have questions. I am figuring I need about 800gph return pump. I want to drill the bottom of the tank. It has a top that is kinda like a eurobraced top it has a opening on the back center of the lid. I need to find someone who can build me a overflow box that goes from the bottom of the tank up and bond it to the tank.

Do I put a stand pipe or something in it? I currently have a hoffer gurgle buster in my overflow box should I use it? How high up do I want the pipe?

I also want to drill the back and have a movable spray nosle type deal for the return.

The tank is 15" high and I want the surface level about 1" from the top

How hard is it to bond the acylic I want it to look professional.

Also the lfs that is drilling the tank says I should drill 2 holes to have one as a backup should I do this?

 

[Feivel]

Check to see if the bottom is tempered before you start.


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[Feivel]

Oh wait haha acrylic right gotcha. Sorry no exp with acrylique


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[jduck]

Fish store should be able to take care of it all

 

[Eric B]

I would just use the hoffer gurgle buster as long as it is large enough to handle the flow from return pump. The height of the pipe is up to you but needs to be below the top of the overflow box. I would always start slightly down from overflow top and you can always cut it shorter until you get the height/sound you desire. These should just be pvc parts that are slipped together as I never glue my overflow pipes for easy removal if necessary.

Most over flows have 2 holes drilled and are used 1 for a drain (3/4" bulkhead) and 1 for the overflow (1" bulkhead), but if you are drilling the rear for your return and your return is coming back over the top rim the you can use both as drains. Being the tank is acrylic it will be easy to drill where you want the holes. The water height will be determined by the height of the overflow and your flow rate returning back into the tank. Depending on what return pump you are going to use I would put a ball valve on the exit of the pump to control that flow so you can adjust the water height in the tank as needed, but once you get it set you will probably never touch it again.

Bonding acrylic to itself it not that hard and you will need to use weld-on to do it. Weld-on #3 is like water thin and probably will not work for your bonding the overflow to tank very well so I would use weld-on #16 as it is thicker like sorta like super glue gel. There are plenty of you tube videos that will show you the process and steps to take and you can usually get weld-on at some local fish stores but I always order mine from McMaster Carr.

Good Luck!

 

[kwandrsn]

Ok I'm confused now you said two holes? You are talking about a 1" bulkhead for the downtube into the sump and a 3/4" bulkhead for the return right?

I don't understand drain and overflow. I thought there should just be one hole
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[Feivel]

Aquarium Plumbing Basics - Reef Aquarium <--- scroll down past first main text paragraph, there is a chart.

1" might be a bit borderline, Check with your local spa store for standard in stock sizes you can easily find incase you need to replace it at some point. a 1.25" may be a bit better for you. although all stores dont carry the same stock and i live in Canada, so things may be a bit different here for in the aspect of whats availble for stock & supply. i was always suggested to have 2 holes for draining incase one plugs up the other is there for safety overflow. usually you would set it 1/4" higher than the next.

I also read somewhere that you do not want to mix acrylique with glass. so when you build the overflow box, make sure its acrylic. (i think this applies more for a sump and the baffles.)

Oh and on a second thought, look up the durso standpipe.

Cheers

 

[Reefing Madness]

I've not heard of anyone drilling another hole for a back up, unless it was drilled in another corner.

 

[kwandrsn]

That's what I thought too. I've only seen one hole drilled

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[Reefing Madness]

Shuould be 2 holes. One for your intake to the sump, then normally the return hole from the sump. But not a 3rd hole as I was reading, for a backup.

 

[kwandrsn]

Ok I got it. What sizes should I go with? And im drilling the bottom for the sump and I was thinking maybe drill the back for for the return on one side and put a directional nozzle on it and have my hydor on the other side of the tank

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